


the finer points of balance

by loveclouds



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 18:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11110245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveclouds/pseuds/loveclouds
Summary: Hanamaki proposes an ingenious way of combating Oikawa's shittiness: Iwaizumi should try being nice to him.





	the finer points of balance

\---

 

“Maybe he’s an asshole because you’re so mean to him,” Hanamaki suggests, like the most benign and obvious explanation in the world, and Iwaizumi’s fork slips clear from his hand to clang onto the restaurant floor. 

 

“Oh, let me just grab a new one for you!” The cute waitress who’s been hovering around their table all night is quick to offer, and she leaves with a very long, lingering look in Iwaizumi’s dumbstuck direction, clearly unaware of his sudden internal turmoil.

 

Iwaizumi is staring at Hanamaki in complete shock. Wha- _what?_

 

Does that even make any sense? Could it really be that?

 

Hanamaki seems displeased with his gobsmacked, slightly open-mouthed staring. “Oikawa is definitely more of an asshole to you than everybody else put together. But he’s also definitely a bajillion times worse to us when you’re in the general vicinity calling him a dumbass or a piece of shit. He like...feeds on it.”

 

Matsukawa, completely uninvested in this conversation, simply nods. Betrayed, Iwaizumi thinks. 

 

“Seriously, just wait for him to get back from the toilet and be nice to him.” Hanamaki rips up some small pieces of napkin to roll into balls, prepared to flick them at Oikawa all night. “You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

 

Oikawa’s timely return coincides with the cute waitress’, and Iwaizumi refrains from calling him a piece of shit like he normally would when Oikawa naturally flashes her his widest shit-eating grin just to charm her for the hell of it. He says nothing when Oikawa squishes him way deep into the booth despite there being plenty of booth for them both to sit in and share, simply softening into the hard angles of Oikawa’s body to cushion him.

 

Almost instantly, Oikawa is turning to stare at him, eyes big and sweet and glinting with calculation.

 

“Iwa-chan~” he sings, squishing harder until Iwaizumi is pushed up against the restaurant wall. “Iwa-chaaaan, did you want to talk to that cute waitress?”

 

He’s grinning and Iwaizumi is so tempted to rip his face off but he looks to Hanamaki instead, internally wilting as his friend’s words replay in his head. Hanamaki remains stone-faced even as he lines up a row of small napkin balls to launch his assault. “No, I’m fine,” Iwaizumi says amiably, expression neutral even when Oikawa blinks owlishly at his calmness. “But don’t let me stop you if you really think she’s cute.”

 

Because Oikawa doesn’t actually call anyone cute, even though he has half a dozen girls orbiting him at any given time on campus. 

 

And Iwaizumi should know, because even if they don’t live together, they still meet up nearly every day between classes and usually after, too, as long his part-time job and Oikawa’s practices allowed them the time. 

 

Oikawa seems to muse on this extremely strange and measured response for a while, but then rights himself to silently finish his pasta. Matsukawa eventually breaks the silence to point out how Oikawa’s preppy sweater vest is walking the line between fashionable and hideous. 

 

When Iwaizumi looks back at Hanamaki, there’s nothing but a smug, knowing smile on his friend‘s face. 

 

Oh god… _is_ it his fault that Oikawa is such a little shit?

 

\---

 

Unfortunately, Iwaizumi never gets the time to bring it up with Hanamaki again. Their friends are only in Tokyo to visit for a handful of days and there’s always too much to do in Tokyo to have long sit-downs for soul revelation. 

 

“Iwa-chan, you’ve been so weird lately,” Oikawa says at the exhausting end of the week, sprawled out carelessly across the entirety of Iwaizumi’s sofa. His legs are too long to fit right and Iwaizumi can’t help that his eyes follow the lines of him, around the sloping curves of bone and muscle currently hidden beneath comfy at-home clothes. 

 

Purring, Oikawa arches and turns over, settling those sharp eyes on him again. Iwaizumi stares back impassively from the kitchen, a bowl of fresh strawberries cupped in his hands.

 

“How have I been weird?” he asks, not walking to Oikawa at all even though Oikawa’s the one he just washed strawberries for. 

 

“You know.” Oikawa shrugs half-heartedly, seemingly staring right into his brain. He just knows him too well. “Like...not emotive. You’re turning into a sentient potato.”

 

The scowl is on Iwaizumi’s face before he can control it but he swallows the _I’d rather be a potato than a dumbass like you_ sitting at the point of his tongue. Instead, he says, “I’m totally fine, you’re just imagining things,” though he doubts Oikawa even tries to believe it. 

 

Those eyes never leave him, even as he waves at Oikawa to make room for him and sits down to watch their shitty Saturday night TV drama. He says nothing when Oikawa flops into his lap either, just lets him lie there like he likes to. He doesn’t look down no matter how many times he can sense Oikawa looking up at him. 

 

\---

 

“So how’s it going?”

 

Iwaizumi puts his face in his hand, sighing heavily into the phone. “I don’t know if you’re a genius or out to troll me, but he’s gotten even more insufferable.”

 

It’s been two weeks since Hanamaki and Matsukawa left and two weeks since Iwaizumi has been making a concentrated effort to be nicer. In direct proportion, Oikawa has been on a steep incline in being a noisier, clingier, complainier little shit than ever before, and he’s been weird about it too, so Iwaizumi just can’t figure out what he’s doing wrong.

 

Hanamaki bursts out laughing and Iwaizumi grumpily shrinks into himself, forehead pressed to his kitchen table. Oikawa finally left to go home now that it’s Sunday night. He’s been making a habit of staying over on the weekends for the past two months straight, even though Iwaizumi offers openly to go over to his instead. It used to be just once or twice a month when they first started university but maybe old habits are just easy to fall back into. They were never apart for very long back in Miyagi.

 

“Is it even possible for Oikawa to get more insufferable?” Hanamaki teases, sounding like he’s having a grand old time.

 

“He just gets super quiet and weird whenever I try to be nice,” Iwaizumi explains earnestly, ignoring the way his face gets hot. “I’m not even being that nice, I’m just not yelling at him like you told me to. And then it’s like he doubles down on being shitty, he’s been so over the top lately. He asked me to go shopping with him yesterday so I did, even though all the malls are a nightmare on weekends. You know how girls always try to hit on him, right? So we’re just walking around when we happen to run into a group of girls from university, and I guess they’re pretty into watching his practice matches. Seriously, how does he have so many fans with that shitty personality? Anyway, they were really excited to see him and wanted to go for a coffee together, which is normal, right?”

 

“I guess? Oikawa does like those little fancy cafe cakes.”

 

“Right, so I thought he might want to go, which is why I didn’t say anything when he started gushing about how the ‘great Oikawa-san’ may be able to fit them into his schedule. Wow, he’s seriously shitty, I really wanted to yell at him. But then he started looking at me like he was waiting for me to yell at him, but...why would I? So then he goes, _oh, Iwa-chan is tired, so we can’t, right, Iwa-chan? Do you want to go home, Iwa-chan?_ and he just wouldn’t drop it. I told him I was fine but he just got weirder about going home and none of the girls knew what was going on. I mean, even I didn’t know what was going on. So we just came home and he barely said five words to me all night. It’s so weird.”

 

“Like he can’t figure out why you’re being nice, right? It’s probably because he really can’t understand it.”

 

“I resent that, okay. I’m plenty nice to him sometimes.”

 

“Nah, I think you’re pretty nice to him most times,” Hanamaki says, and that makes Iwaizumi flustered, simultaneously embarrassed and pleased that Hanamaki would think so. “Honestly? I think he just wants your attention.”

 

“He already has my attention,” Iwaizumi notes, confused and so pure that Hanamaki decides not to tease him for admitting it so openly. The Iwaizumi he knew in high school would definitely rather be dead than be caught admitting out loud how much Oikawa dominates his life. “I wonder if I should talk to him about it.”

 

“I guess you’re the only one who could get a straight answer out of him anyway.”

 

Iwaizumi is filled with that uncomfortable mix of pride and embarrassment again. “Thanks, Hanamaki. I think you really stumbled onto something though. I need to be nicer to him.”

 

Hanamaki hangs up with Iwaizumi with his lip caught between his teeth. It was all he could do to keep what he really wants to say from spilling out.

 

\---

 

“Iwa-chan~”

 

“What?”

 

“I~wa-chaaaaan~”

 

“Oikawa, seriously, what?”

 

“Nothing...”

 

Iwaizumi sighs, ever suffering. He props his chin in his hand, resting his weight forward onto the tiny cafe table between them. Their knees knock underneath but Iwaizumi doesn’t bother moving out of the way, just shifts until he’s got one of Oikawa’s knees between his own. 

 

Oikawa has that signature peaceful smile on his face but his gaze is restless, scanning the cafe left to right, left to right, like he’s looking for someone. His eyes flitter over to Iwaizumi sometimes but he never lands for long, as if easily spooked. “This cafe sure is popular,” he comments, “I know it’s Tokyo but a half hour wait is--”

 

He jerks back the second Iwaizumi’s fingertips brush the side of his neck, startling so hard that his knee bangs into the underside of the table, startling Iwaizumi in return. They stare at each other in wide-eyed silence for a stretched moment before they’re both awkwardly apologizing over each other, Iwaizumi for touching and Oikawa for overreacting.

 

“You just caught me off guard--”

 

“Your collar was just--”

 

“I didn’t mean to--”

 

“Okay. Stop.” Iwaizumi puts his hands up between them, offering a small smile. “Let me fix your collar.”

 

Obviously, Oikawa can do that himself. Obviously, he doesn’t need Iwaizumi’s help for that. 

 

But Iwaizumi would like to, and Oikawa is staring down so hard at the table that he could set it on fire if he didn’t have to blink. Iwaizumi is careful to fold the collar down to make a crisp line, his fingertips lingering against Oikawa’s skin. It’s weirdly domestic, though he’s done this a lot. It just stands out more because for once, Oikawa is quiet throughout, no jabbering, no wild stories; he just silently stares down at the table, allowing Iwaizumi to do what he wants.

 

“I’ll treat you to cake today,” Iwaizumi says, feeling weirdly sorry. They usually bicker about this stuff for sport but Oikawa has been in such an unreadable mood lately, randomly touchy and so sensitive about unexpected things. Iwaizumi doesn’t know what else to do except be even nicer.

 

It doesn’t seem to be working, though. Oikawa is chewing on his lip, eyes still glued to the table.

 

“I wanted to try the chocolate and the carrot ones,” Iwaizumi offers, pushing a bit harder. “Do you want to share?”

 

Oikawa visibly tenses all over and Iwaizumi is absolutely certain that something is really very wrong with his best friend. Sure, Oikawa isn’t the most forthcoming immediately whenever there’s a problem, but he also never keeps anything from Iwaizumi for long. Beyond whatever little bickering matches they like to have, they’re best friends. And Iwaizumi loves him, very much.

 

“Iwa-chan...” Oikawa says, then brightens impossibly, smile so fake that Iwaizumi actually feels himself recoil. “Hey, Iwa-chan...did you get a girlfriend?”

 

Iwaizumi stares at him. Did he just hallucinate? Did he just have an auditory stroke?

 

“...What,” he eventually says, unable to even make it into a question.

 

Oikawa blinks at the stony, blank look on his face, then his eyes are darting away again, nervous panic in the way he’s picking at his own fingertips. “It’s okay, you can tell me,” he says brightly, but his eyes are too wide. Iwaizumi knows the way they curve into moon crescents when he’s really laughing, cheeks flushed with joy and smile from ear to ear. This isn’t that Oikawa. 

 

“I would tell you if there was actually anything to tell,” Iwaizumi says, and Oikawa flinches at the steel in his voice. “Where would I have gotten a girlfriend from? I mean- well, _why?_ ”

 

Oikawa crosses his arms in front of his chest, defensive and unsure. Iwaizumi isn’t lying to him, surely. But he’s just…

 

“You’ve just been so...not there lately,” he says uncomfortably, a quiet mumble that Iwaizumi has to lean in to hear. 

 

“What do you mean? You’ve been sleeping over every weekend, you know I’m always around.”

 

Oikawa flushes with embarrassment and makes a noise of agreement, though he doesn’t seem to be any more relieved. “I just mean...you’re really distant, I guess. It’s hard to talk to you.”

 

“Oh.” Iwaizumi is taken aback, cycling through the past few weeks in his head. He didn’t think he was doing anything differently except trying to be nicer, though? “I’m sorry, Oikawa. I--”

 

“No, Iwa-chan! Don’t apologize, it’s not your--”

 

“Well still, I made you feel bad and--”

 

“You didn’t do anything wrong! I’m just being stu--”

 

“Would you guys like to order?” Rina-chan asks, an eyebrow arched into her hairline. 

 

Iwaizumi clears his throat, comforted by the fact that Oikawa’s face is as red as his own feels. “Sorry Rina-chan, we just got distracted. One chocolate and one carrot, please.”

 

“Don’t forget the term paper is due next Tuesday,” she says to Iwaizumi, and _especially_ at Oikawa. He may be excellent in his studies like with most other things he puts his mind to, but he also tends to pull all-nighters agonizing over perfectionist details. “If I can juggle schoolwork and working at a cafe as busy as this, you can manage to not fall asleep in lectures and beg me for notes afterward.”

 

“Yes, Rina-sama,” Oikawa replies peppily, shrinking under her glare. “Ahaha...you sure do keep us in line!”

 

“Not like it’s my job,” she says with a sniff, scrawling their order onto her paper pad before pointing her pen in Iwaizumi’s direction. “Iwaizumi-kun, manage your boyfriend better, will you? He’s really hopeless.”

 

She’s gone in an overworked huff and Iwaizumi slowly turns back to Oikawa, the air awkwardly peaceful between them. He shifts until he has Oikawa’s knee between his own again, and this time he leans into the table, a bit closer.

 

“So...are you okay?” Iwaizumi asks gently, looking up at his face. Oikawa goes pink again. It’s very cute.

 

“You don’t have a girlfriend,” Oikawa repeats.

 

“No, of course not.”

 

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he answers, and Iwaizumi understands that Oikawa is never going to tell him exactly which part of the conversation he’s okay with.

 

\---

 

“Yo, how’s it going?”

 

Oikawa sighs, long and wistful, twisting around on his bed. “Makki!” he whines, “can’t you come back soon? Has it really only been a month? I need you to come back and make Iwa-chan stop acting weird.”

 

Iwa-chan’s been acting weird with him for something like a month now. At first he thought Iwaizumi was mad at him for something, but then it wasn’t that at all, so then he had been terrified that maybe Iwaizumi was trying to be nice in order to drop a bombshell like he had gotten a girlfriend or something, but it wasn’t that, either. Oikawa is beside himself with conspiracy theories and anxiety, too terrified of change between them to just let things progress as they are. He has control issues; that’s why he’s so good at volleyball.

 

Hanamaki audibly snickers at him in total derision. “I thought he was being nicer to you? Isn’t that a good thing?”

 

“You just don’t get it,” Oikawa complains, “Iwa-chan isn’t mean to me. That’s just his way of showing that he cares.”

 

“Hey, _you’re_ the one who used to call him mean like twenty times per day back in high school.”

 

“Oh Makki, still so immature in the ways of how people show their feelings.” Oikawa tuts at him, so full of himself that Hanamaki almost hangs up on him. The damn irony of this conversation is going to give him a stress ulcer. “Iwa-chan is just like that, you know? He’s not good at being nice so he’s nice in other ways, like...by lecturing me.” He frowns, pausing; that totally sounds weird spoken aloud. 

 

“Are you a total masochist or what?”

 

“Okay, you just don’t understand our best friends friendship.” 

 

“Do _you_ understand your best friends friendship? Iwaizumi’s great at being nice. He’s one of the nicest guys I know. Are you really telling me that you’d rather him lecture you all day than be nice?”

 

“No, of course not...” Oikawa pouts, snuggling up into his pillow. “I just don’t know what to think. We went out to the mall a few weekends back and you know how he is when I’m being ridiculous. But when I was flirting with a bunch of girls, he didn’t say anything at all, like he was okay with me going with them even though I was hanging out with Iwa-chan that weekend.”

 

“Don’t you hang out with Iwaizumi every weekend?” Hanamaki points out, finding it so interesting that he can hear the same story from both perspectives. It’s not like he could’ve asked; how fortuitous that Oikawa is offering.

 

“That’s not the point, Makki! What I’m saying is, he would always tell me not to be shitty, you know? Because who would ditch their best friend for a coffee date with strangers? But he didn’t say anything, he just looked at me. I freaked out a little, I guess. He’s never done that before. And it’s not like he has a girlfriend to be distracted by. So I wonder if he just...doesn’t care about me anymore.”

 

A lump suddenly lodges itself into Oikawa’s throat, hot and hard. It’s so stupid to get upset about Iwaizumi being nicer to him but Oikawa doesn’t think that Iwaizumi is being nicer at all. He’s just getting distant and hard to understand and what if Iwaizumi really is sick of being around him all the time?

 

“I really doubt Iwaizumi could ever not care about you,” Hanamaki says slowly, perplexed by Oikawa’s conclusions. 

 

“You just don’t get it,” Oikawa repeats, burying his face in his pillow. “The opposite of love isn’t hate, Makki. It’s apathy.”

 

“Then Iwaizumi must really love you,” Hanamaki tells him plainly, and that makes Oikawa smile a little, liking the sound of those words even if they’re hard for him to grapple with. 

 

“Thanks, Makki. I guess I should just tell him I want him to stop being nice to me.”

 

“That’s an incredibly strange thing to ask of someone.”

 

“You should just delve deeper into the bonds of best friends friendship. Just ask Mattsun to understand you better.”

 

“I’d probably voluntarily set myself on fire first. Also, Matsukawa and I are in total agreement that you and Iwa-chan are pretty messed up.”

 

“Makki!” Oikawa says, laughing. “You know only I call Iwa-chan that!”

 

And because Hanamaki knows that Oikawa is being 100% serious, he smiles to himself. A warning is a warning, whatever shape it may come in. “I do know that, Oikawa. I sure wish you were less dumb.”

 

“Hey!!”

 

\---

 

It’s not really Oikawa’s fault that he wants Iwaizumi’s attention. They’re childhood best friends, together for literally everything, all their milestones shared between them. 

 

It makes him feel cared about when Iwaizumi fusses over him, and they’ve just grown up with Oikawa excelling at pushing all of Iwaizumi’s buttons. It’s almost a privilege to be the one who can get a rise out of Iwaizumi the fastest, rile him up and get him focused on Oikawa alone, and even if it is 98% pissed off frustration, it’s very easy for him to see that Iwaizumi cares. 

 

So okay, he goes out of his way to bug Iwaizumi a lot. But Iwaizumi has also seemed perfectly happy to nag at him too, and Oikawa has always loved being the center of Iwaizumi’s universe. He cannot fathom being anywhere else. 

 

Maybe it _is_ weird that he can’t accept that Iwaizumi is being nice to him. His gauge for these things is messed up. But rather than be nice, it’s more like Iwaizumi has been showing him non-emotion, so blank and unresponsive where he used to lecture and nag, and what is Oikawa supposed to understand from that? 

 

“What did you want to talk about?” Iwaizumi asks, concern barely hidden in his face. Oikawa is filled with relief to see how much Iwaizumi still cares--it’s quite unusual for Oikawa to ask him for a sit-down just to talk about something.

 

Iwaizumi’s apartment is cozy and tidy, centered around a big kotatsu table that they had found at a secondhand store when they first moved to Tokyo. Oikawa folds his arms on top of it now, sitting across from a rather concerned Iwaizumi. He likes Iwaizumi’s apartment; it smells and feels just like him. 

 

“I wanted to see if everything was okay,” Oikawa says.

 

“With me?” Iwaizumi is bewildered, because Oikawa is the one that’s been acting strange for over a month. 

 

“You’re not being weird or anything,” Oikawa makes sure to explain, self-consciously playing with his fingers. “Well...you are, but it’s not like you’re doing anything bad. I’m worried that you’re...mad at me.”

 

No, that came out imperfect. But he also is too embarrassed to ask if Iwaizumi doesn’t like him anymore.

 

“I’m not mad at you,” Iwaizumi says clearly, getting up so he can move closer. Oikawa leans away from him a little but Iwaizumi still squishes in at Oikawa’s side rather than sit across from him, bodily closer so that Oikawa can have some sense of physical comfort. “Honestly, I just wanted to be nicer to you lately so it makes no sense that it made you feel like I was mad at you instead.”

 

“I think you’re nice to me.” Oikawa frowns; why does even Iwaizumi think that he isn’t nice? He’s the nicest person ever, he has the biggest heart. He isn’t selfish like Oikawa or greedy like Oikawa or narrow-minded like Oikawa. He’s generous and cares deeply and always knows how to make Oikawa laugh when Oikawa needs it most. 

 

Iwaizumi is the one who massages his hands and checks his nails whenever training gets too intense. Iwaizumi is the one who sits with him into dark, sleepless, anxious nights, when Oikawa is overcome with exhaustion and doubt about his own abilities. Iwaizumi is the one who attends all of his official games even when they’re inconvenient to get to and he never sits in the front row, because he knows that Oikawa can’t afford the distraction. Iwaizumi is the one who wakes him up on the weekends with breakfast to thank him for making dinner the night before, and sometimes his smiles are so soft and warm as he sits on the edge of Oikawa’s bed, haloed by sunshine, that Oikawa can physically feel himself tumbling over and over deeper in love with him.

 

There is no one nicer than Iwaizumi. Oikawa gets to experience that in its uniqueness and he doesn’t need anyone telling him what it does or doesn’t mean.

 

Iwaizumi heaves a sigh, rubbing at the back of his neck. He’s not meeting Oikawa’s eyes but his face is open and honest. “I know I could be nicer. Hanamaki mentioned how you get extra ridiculous when I’m lecturing you and stuff. So I wanted to be less mean to you, but I’m getting the feeling that I’ve made you upset instead...”

 

Goddammit, Hanamaki! Oikawa is blushing with pleasure that Iwaizumi has given him that much thought and also rightly pissed that anyone could give Iwaizumi doubt. “You should just ignore him and be exactly how you were,” he says with finality.

 

Iwaizumi looks at him uncertainly. “You really want me to call you a shitty guy again?”

 

Well, no, but it’s the best that Oikawa can do, isn’t it? “Unless you want to be extra nice all the time and call me your beloved boyfriend~”

 

Under Iwaizumi’s silent, serious scrutiny, Oikawa’s palms break out in a cold sweat. 

 

“Just- just kidding!” he sings weakly, “geez, Iwa-chan! Don’t look at me all death-face like--”

 

“You know, I’ve never told Rina-chan any differently,” Iwaizumi says, cutting his rambling off.

 

Oikawa can’t seem to pull in enough air. “What?” he manages to breathe, hands clenched into fists in his lap.

 

“When she would call you my boyfriend. I’ve never--” Iwaizumi looks away for a moment, absolutely dying of embarrassment, but he forces himself to look back at Oikawa’s pale, perplexed expression. He had no idea Oikawa was this uncertain about his feelings. Iwazumi always thought that Oikawa just...saw right through him. “If it’ll actually make you happier, I can go back to calling you Shittykawa.”

 

“No! No, that’s not--” Oikawa shakes his head, trying to wake himself up. “I like that you’re nice! I’d like it if you were extra nice! I like it when you’re super angry at me, too!”

 

“That doesn’t even make any sense,” Iwaizumi points out.

 

“Yes it does, Iwa-chan!”

 

“Are you a total masochist?”

 

“ _Iwa-chan!_ ”

 

“I don’t want to be mean to you.”

 

“But how else am I supposed to know that you care!?” Oikawa demands, shrill and incredulous, at the end of his rope. 

 

So Iwaizumi grabs him by the face and kisses him.

 

\---

 

“These tables were not made for volleyball players,” Rina laments, feeling kind of sorry for these four overgrown men, all squished together at a dainty four-top. “Our clientele is 85% women with much shorter legs, so...”

 

“That’s alright,” Hanamaki says gamely, turning on his devilish charm. “It’s worth it for the cake, isn’t that right, Rina-chan-san?”

 

“Would you stop being a loser for one second?” Matsukawa asks him, kicking him under the table.

 

“I guess Mattsun really does deeply understand you,” Oikawa observes, snickering even as Hanamaki glares at him. 

 

Under the table, Iwaizumi gives his hand a squeeze, though he doesn’t look up from the cake menu. They’ve been coming here pretty regularly if only for Rina’s lectures on how much they fail at life and Iwaizumi was determined to bring Matsukawa and Hanamaki here now that they’re visiting again before winter holidays. He’s pretty excited to go back to Miyagi together for the new year but Tokyo’s beginning to feel like home for him and Oikawa, a place and time in their lives made by just the two of them.

 

“Did you want to share some carrot cake again?” Oikawa asks him, rhythmically bumping their knees together.

 

Iwaizumi smiles at him, fond and sweet. It’s unspeakably wonderful that Oikawa is his best friend. Even if he is a headache and a half, he’s also all the understanding that Iwaizumi could ask for. There’s no one else he’d rather fuss over.

 

“Gross,” Hanamaki complains, jabbing Oikawa in the side. 

 

“You better watch it, Makki. Iwa-chan is very protective of me! You wanna keep that hand, huh?”

 

“He is just so, so insufferable, my god,” Matsukawa marvels.

 

“It doesn’t get better, even at night,” Iwaizumi tells him calmly, clearly resigned to his fate. 

 

When Rina comes back with their cakes, Oikawa startles to see an extra plate set in front of him. It’s not a cake he’s seen before and he’s never seen it on the menus either, and it smells just heavenly. It looks soft and buttery and golden and he looks at Rina in question, blinking at her huge grin.

 

“Special order for you, a milk bread cake, as close as our patissiere can get it,” she tells him, and the fork slips out of his hand in his wide-eyed staring to clang onto the floor. “Tooru-chan, pay attention!” Rina lectures, shaking her head. “Let me just go grab another fork for you. Take it up with your boyfriend if you don’t like the cake, it was his idea.”

 

“ _Iwa-chan,_ ” Oikawa breathes, face flaming, absolutely bursting with happiness. 

 

“Woah, he’s totally sparkling,” Matsukawa says.

 

“Don’t be shitty about it, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi mumbles, tomato red and smiling, squeezing Oikawa’s hand so hard that it has to be uncomfortable.

 

“Iwa-chan!!” Oikawa exclaims even louder, just beyond reason with joy. There really is no one nicer than his Iwa-chan, in every way that he knows of Iwaizumi’s kindness.

 

“Masochist,” Hanamaki says, rolling his eyes. Oikawa holds up an open dessert menu to shield their faces, meeting Iwaizumi halfway for a kiss.

 

\---

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is 100% not double-checked for errors or reasons to exist, so welcome to my personal hell of self-indulgent iwaoi fluff :') someone should take internet access away from me, damn i'm ashamed of myself. 
> 
> as always, please come scream about iwaoi with me on twitter [@yuxisushi](https://twitter.com/yuxisushi) :)


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